Soldiers and their families have a nomadic lifestyle in which even generals and other top officers transfer every 18 months or two years to a different installation.

The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College want to make it easier for Fort Bliss soldiers and their families to get their college degrees, despite the frequent moves.

UTEP and EPCC each has received a $645,000 planning grant from the Detroit-based Kresge Foundation, the schools announced last week.

UTEP will use its grant to develop a network of public two-year and four-year colleges and universities near Army installations where the majority of Fort Bliss soldiers either transfer in or out of, said Donna Ekal, associate provost in the Office of Undergraduate Studies.

"We know a series of posts or installations where most of the soldiers transfer around," Ekal said. "We want to identify the schools near them so we can facilitate degree completion for soldiers and their dependents."

Different schools have different polices and procedures, and when soldiers move, their credits may not be transferrable, Ekal said.

"We frequently have soldiers and their dependents come to UTEP with transcripts from four or five different schools," Ekal said. "Along the way, they lose credits. They don't all transfer from one program to the next to the next."

The goal is to smooth the way for credit transfers and make it easier for soldiers and their family members to receive degrees, Ekal said.

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During the next 18 months, UTEP will plan and build this network of schools. UTEP will work closely with EPCC on this project, officials at both schools said.

Christy Ponce, executive director of foundation and development at EPCC, said the school will use its grant to buy new technology and infrastructure such as enrollment management software to make it easier for students to transfer credits to and from EPCC.

The grant will also be used to create a system in which students get regular updates on their progress toward a degree or certificate, Ponce said.

"This will help with degree planning and for students to stay on track with their educational goals," Ponce said.

This partnership with UTEP will also have a "long-term positive impact" on plans for building a new EPCC campus on Fort Bliss, Ponce said.

It's scheduled to be completed by 2016 and would be built on Fort Bliss property but outside the gates, Ponce said. It will be built near the new Beaumont replacement hospital that's also being constructed.

UTEP, meanwhile, will look at identifying top degree programs that soldiers like to pursue, such as criminal justice, and make it easier to transfer classes from one school to another within those programs, Ekal said.

Another goal of the grant program is to "connect soldiers and families to the campus experience," Ekal said.

"We want them to take face-to-face classes in addition to online," she said. "We want them to come to football games and basketball games and participate in campus lifestyle to add that dimension to their education experience."

UTEP has more than 1,200 military-affiliated students, which includes active-duty, reservists, National Guard, veterans, retired military and family members.

Fort Bliss has nearly 39,000 active-duty service members, 1,200 reservists, 39,000 family members and 13,000 civilian personnel assigned to it.

David Burge may be reached at dburge@elpasotimes.com; 546-6126. Follow him on Twitter @dburge1962